


Fluffy Kitty

by Rulerofyouall



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Animal Traits, Animal Transformation, Batfamily (DCU), Cassandra Cain is Black Bat, Cats, Chronic Pain, Claustrophobia, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Gay Male Character, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Jason Todd-centric, Jason is a cute kitty but he'll fight anyone who says so, Jason-centric, M/M, Past Character Death, Protective Barbara Gordon, Protective Roy Harper, Roy Harper Needs a Hug, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, Tim Drake is Red Robin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofyouall/pseuds/Rulerofyouall
Summary: In this universe, people have an animal form that they can switch into. Jason is a cat, and Roy is a dog.Bruce wants Jason to come over, but he doesn't want to go.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Roy Harper & Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 16
Kudos: 222





	1. Jason and Roy

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!

"Jason?"

He shoved himself further under the cabinet, cursing Bruce out. Jason was not in the mood to speak to him. It had been too soon since their last argument, and he just knew that their next encounter would not end well. The bat wanted him and his partner to come over and help on a case, but he just couldn't do that right now. He couldn't see Bruce right now.

"There you are." Roy had crouched down beside him and reached an arm towards him.

Jason hissed and backed off. His animal form was completely different to his human body. He was a human, not a cat, when he was thrown into the Lazarus Pit, so that was the only form that reaped the benefits. His cat form remained small and crippled, riddled with the scars of his beating from the Joker. He almost never remained in his cat form. His injuries healed incorrectly and would flare up at a moment's notice; his chronic pain drove him to remain in his safe, larger, human form.

The cat form itself never grew much larger than the palm of a person's hand. He had grown a little bit over the years, but not nearly enough to be considered healthy. His pelt was all black except for a white patch over the left side of his face where the Lazarus Pit had forever changed him, and his eyes had also changed from a blue to a glowing green due to his experience. He often wished that his fur would lie flat. It wasn't even evenly thick as his past injuries affected the way that it grew. His fur was long though, allowing him to look larger than he was in reality when he puffed it up.

He looked like a fucking feral kitten that someone abandoned behind a dumpster, and he hated it.

Luckily for him, Roy's arm was not quite long enough to reach him, falling about three inches short. He sighed in annoyance. "Will you work with me please?"

No. The _only_ reason he was putting up with the crippled, tiny form he had was to get away from Roy, and by proxy, Bruce. He didn't know why his partner was refusing to take his side on this one. Roy knew his problems with his family and understood them like no one else.

"Jason, Bruce needs your help." He stared at the cat, the only part of him visible in the shadows being his eyes. "It might be important."

Does he even know what Bruce wants?

"Do you want them parading through Crime Alley or the Narrows without you?"

The idea made him uncomfortable, but he really didn't want to see Bruce. They had argued ferociously not even a week ago, and he had yet to recover from it. He couldn't see him today. Why wasn't Roy helping him with this?

"I know you don't want to, but we could just see what he wants and leave if we have to."

Jason let out a loud sound of protest and scurried farther away from Roy's waiting hand.

"Yeah, yeah, meow to you too." He gripped the legs of the cabinet. "I'm going to move this, okay?"

No, don't do that. Jason growled a bit and started limping away from his partner. The Joker had shattered both of his kneecaps in the.... _incident,_ and they never recovered in this form. It was painful to exist like this, but it helped him hide in smaller places.

He moved as fast as he could from underneath the cabinet...right into a box that his partner closed the lid on.

Excuse me? Did Roy just put him in...a cat carrier? That's rude.

"I'm sorry, Jaybird. I didn't want to do this, but we got to go to the Batcave."

_Why?_

He scratched at the edges of the box, but it would not relent. In his youth, he had once gotten caught unexpectedly on the street, and his attackers ripped out most of his claws. That was when he started living as a human full time. It was nearly impossible for a cat to survive outside without when they are de-clawed, and it still hurt like hell to this day.

He screeched loudly at his partner as he was placed in a car. He couldn't tell which one, but it was obvious where they were going.

"Jason?" It was a new voice, one too familiar. "How are you doing, little wing?"

He growled.

"That good, yeah?" Dick was obviously in the driver's seat. "Did Roy tell you what we are doing?"

No. He was too busy being a traitor. He hated being put in small spaces. He hated being put in _cages._ The walls were closing in.

"Dr. Thompkins is going to take a look at you, okay?"

What? What happened to the case Bruce needed help with? He couldn't think. All he knew was that the walls were closing in on him. There was no light source; was he underground? Or was it a prison? Arkham? Why the small space?

Roy sighed. "I accidentally mentioned your aversion to being a cat to Dick, who told Bruce, who called Leslie."

"Why didn't you come to us about this pain sooner?"

_I didn't want you to know, dumbass._

He tried to concentrate, but he found it difficult. He had to get out of there, out into the regular car space. Roy and he had only gotten that damn cat carrier for emergencies, so why did this classify as such?

They would all feel unnecessarily guilty over things they had no control over. He didn't blame Bruce for not saving him from the Joker, so despite their problems, he didn't want him to be burdened with the knowledge.

"Leslie's going to see if she can do anything about the pain."

He obviously wasn't thrilled. Why didn't Roy just let him out? He wasn't going to run away. Jason could be good; he would prove himself and everything.

If Dr. Thompkins thought it was necessary, she would re-break some of his limbs. None of them really healed correctly, and on x-rays, it normally looked as though a young child haphazardly put him together. This would be in no way painless.

"I'm sorry, Jay, but you wouldn't have ever agreed to this." To his credit, Roy sounded truly apologetic. "But I really think this will help."

Jason knew that to be true too. _But let me out!_

He obviously made some sort of noise without realizing it since he heard both Dick and Roy turn around in their seats. Good. Let Roy know how much he hated this.

"I can let you out if you want." He felt the hook unlatch and immediately threw himself out it, growing into his tall human form instantly.

All of the pain fled from his body. Thank fucking God. He was in the car, not a coffin, not Arkham. He was safe, and nothing was going to happen to him. Everything was okay, right? He hadn't done anything to deserve that, and he knew it.

"I'm not going to take any fucking drugs she gives me." Jason spoke. "But...fine. Fucking fine. I don't care."

"I am sorry, Jay." Roy looked pained. His partner knew his problem with small spaces, and be wouldn't have done this unless there was no other option.

He sighed. "I know."

"She might want to give you pain killers." Dick mentioned somewhat nervously.

Jason glared at the back of his head. "I won't take them." He hated drugs. They had destroyed his mother's life, plunged their family even further into poverty, and ultimately killed her. They were evil.

Roy sent Dick a warning glare, obviously telling him to leave the topic alone. Jason was grateful for that. He didn't like talking about his seeming paranoia over any type of drug, especially not to any of the Bats. In fact, he had only blatantly told his boyfriend what his problem was after they had been together for a few months. He had been afraid that it would seem like he was shaming Roy for his past life choices. They'd fucked with his partner too, which made drugs even more evil.

"I don't want to see Bruce." He mentioned as well.

"I can try to keep him away from you, but I don't know how successful that would be." Roy sighed.

Jason huffed. "If she takes me out of commission, I'll be pissed."

"You can't keep running around with bones that have healed the wrong way." Roy turned in his seat.

"Then, I'll just stay as a human." 

"You can't just ignore such a large part of yourself." He reasoned. "It wouldn't be fair on you. Everyone else gets to enjoy having their other form, so why shouldn't you?"

Jason shrugged. He had never had a problem with it before, so he didn't see what the issue was. Roy would often relax around the house as a large, 80 pound golden retriever, but that didn't mean that Jason needed to do the same. He would never lounge around as a cat even if it wasn't for the pain. He never felt comfortable in a small form, especially since his cat body was only about a pound and a half.

"Hey, Jason." Tim greeted them as Dick pulled the car into the Batcave. "She's ready for you in the medbay."

Jesus Christ, there never even was a case to solve, was there? They were all just trying to convince him to come back to get this....treatment. He was far from thrilled about this. It was going to be painful when she would re-break his bones, and it would take a while to heal from it.

"What are you going to do to me?" Jason demanded as soon as he entered, sending a sharp glare to Bruce who was lingering on the sidelines. He was _not_ having this conversation today.

Dr. Thompkins smiled gently at him. "I'm going to need to take a few x-rays before I know for sure."

It wasn't just Bruce nearby. As Jason scanned the room, he spotted almost everyone: Damian, Tim, Alfred, Cass, Stephanie, and even Barbara. That last one puzzled him. He could have sworn that Barbara didn't even like him. Jason moved to look hesitantly at the table Leslie was gesturing he move to. No one but Roy had seen his cat form since he was a very young Robin, and that meant most of them hadn't seen it at all. Dick hadn't been around a lot to see it and hadn't looked in the cat carrier either, and Bruce and Alfred probably expected him to have grown up eventually.

No, he looked just like the kitten Bruce wanted him to be. A broken, beaten kitten.

"Jason, it's okay." Roy put a hand on his shoulder.

Damian stepped forward. "Harper informed me that your animal form was that of a cat, so I thought that Alfred might enjoy meeting you."

The pipsqueak brought the fucking cat to be with him? Was this supposed to be a peace treaty or something?

He might as well just get it over with, right? Sighing, he sat on the table and shrunk back down to the tiny, painful body he hated and ignored the gasps of his family behind him.

"I'm going to kill him, that damned clown." Dick swore under his breath.

Barbara nodded. "I will help you."

Bruce looked as though he was about to comment on that, but he was silenced with a sharp look from Alfred the human.

"Shouldn't he be larger? He's a tall dude." Stephanie jumped to the side of the table, making Jason puff up as his hair stood on end. "Well, that's a bit better, but God damn, dude."

"The Lazarus Pit only healed his human form, remember? I told you that." Roy responded. "His cat form still has the effects of his childhood malnutrition."

Bruce grunted in the background. "He didn't look like...that last time I saw him."

_That was a long damn time ago, idiot._

"Well, that's what we are here to help him with." Dick intervened, still staring at his brother's body.

Conveniently, while he had been distracted by his family bumbling about themselves trying to understand his animal form, Dr. Thompkins had set up the x-ray machine and draped a heavy blanket-like object over him. She started immediately, frowning as the images appeared on the screen.

"How is he?" Cass asked.

Jason was frozen. He didn't want to know what was wrong with him, what was going to happen to him. Sensing his stiffness, his partner too transformed and settled his much larger form around his body, licking the hair on the top of Jason's head until it lay flat and in one direction. He let out a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding and tried to relax the best he could, even purring a little bit as Roy groomed him.

"I'm going to have to break some of these again, Jason. I'm sorry, but most of these have healed incorrectly." She looked regretful. "I'll probably need to do some surgery on the patellas of your hind legs and the paws of your fore limbs."

Obviously, he had made a sound that portrayed weakness because Alfred the cat jumped up on the table and started sniffing around. Fuck, if he thought that Jason was a kitten, he was going to lose it. Roy didn't seem too bothered by the additional animal, so he assumed it was okay for now.

"I'm sorry, Jason." It was Bruce again, obviously being guilty once again. "This shouldn't...This shouldn't be necessary."

Jason growled lowly and moved from under the metallic blanket. He didn't want to get his bones broken again; he would rather live as a human full time. He noticed that the others winced as he limped away as well, but Roy had grown used to the awkward manner in which he walked.

He had gotten half-way across the table before someone lifted him by his scruff. It didn't feel like Roy, so he twisted around to see who it was.

It was the fucking cat. Alfred had lifted him up and was dragging him back to the doctor, the traitor. Had Damian brought him just for that reason? Once again, he felt the need to voice that he was not a fucking kitten.

"Please let her help you, Jason." Tim looked even more stressed than he did on a bad day, and that was impressive.

He supposed he could suck it up and deal with it if it would help palliate the overwhelmed looks on all of their faces. His legs, seemingly forever wobbly, gave out beneath him right as the cat put him down. Roy nosed him a little bit, pushing him into a position that he knew Jason would find more comfortable.

"It is best if we start this as soon as possible, Jason." Dr. Thompkins looked sympathetic. "I can prep you for surgery, and we can do all of this under anesthesia."

Jason hissed hard and pushed back into his boyfriend's golden red fur coat. His fur stood on edge as he moved away from the threat; like hell he was going to let her drug him.

"Err," his older brother spoke up. "Jason hates any type of drug. It was one of conditions he had on coming here: no drugs."

Leslie frowned solemnly but understood his reasoning without having to have it explained. "All right, but it will hurt a lot more."

Jason knew that, but that didn't mean he was okay with her approaching him so quickly. He burrowed deep into Roy's pelt, but his partner only pushed him out.

"Delaying will only prolong your stress, Master Jason." Alfred commented.

Of course, Alfred was right. He was always right; it was practically in his job description.

_He should get a business card._

"Can someone hold him down for me?" Leslie asked, looking around the room. "I don't want to restrain him."

"I can." Cass was the first one to speak up, the rest of the family still entranced by the horrific patchwork that made up Jason's black pelt.

He scoffed. Naturally, that's what they focused on. Did they really expect him to be pretty after what had been done to him? Why couldn't they just stop staring?

He felt his sister grab his forelimb and tried his best not to flinch.

"One, two, three," the doctor counted off before jerking his limb hard.

Pain scorched his way through his body, but he was adept at handling it. It couldn't have felt worse than the first time. 

They had decided to re-set all of the bones at one time. While it would make it more painful for Jason, it would be less stretched out, and doing them one at a time would only prolong his suffering in his opinion. Plus, it had the added bonus of being able to go back on patrol sooner, but _fuck_ , he was so not looking forward to all the physical therapy he would need to do later on.

The next few cracks went about the same way, but each one just added to the pain. He let out a soft, pathetic sound and whimpered into his partner's pelt. Alfred the cat also seemed very concerned on Jason's well being, glaring at the woman who was causing him pain, the woman he had identified as the threat.

Leslie had to actually cut into the flesh surrounding both of his hind leg kneecaps. His patellas had been shattered by the crowbar, and she wanted to put some pins in to help it heal better. Maybe it would be beneficial, but it certainly hurt like a bitch.

"I'm moving on to your ribs, okay?" She said. "Try to stay still, okay? There are a lot of important organs around here."

Like he was going to squirm around enough to lodge one of his ribs into a lung or heart or liver or something. Despite his disagreement, Roy placed a strong paw on him, warning him not to tempt fate.

The ribs took longer than the others, probably because of how cautious she was being. He was annoyed, wanting desperately to be in the nice, warm bed of his and Roy's safe house rather than here. Even worse, there was no way he would be able to transform back into his human form until Leslie decided to take the goddamn pins out of his knees.

He felt Roy's tongue on him again. Obviously, he was still mad at him for tricking him into coming and shoving him into that box, but he had a point. Jason knew enough about medicine to know that this would be better in the long run. Eventually, he may even be able to use his smaller form.

"That's about it." Dr. Thompkins stepped back. "Now, I shouldn't have to tell you to take it easy, right?"

Jason was annoyed. She had splinted all of the breaks to make sure they healed properly, but there were so damn many of them that it felt like he was drowning in bandages. Alfred the cat came over once more and sniffed at all the bandages before sitting next to him and purring. That cat was loud too; his purring was as loud as an engine.

"Do you want to stay the night, Jaylad?" Bruce offered. "I don't think a car ride would be....a good idea."

Jason hissed at him and turned back to Roy. He pressed himself under one of his partner's front paws. It was more awkward than usual since his limbs were splinted, but he fought through the pain and dug himself under his partner. He felt Roy's nose sniff at his bandages, but he didn't say anything.

Dr. Thompkins cleared her throat before speaking. "It would not be a good idea to take a car ride back for a few days. Your bones are remarkably fragile."

_Yeah, cause I had jack shit to eat for the majority of my fucking life._

Tim approached the table. "Only for a few days, okay? Nothing bad will happen."

Jason didn't look up. He knew something would happen. Bruce would open his fucking mouth and piss him off.

By the time Jason looked back up, Bruce was leaving the room, speaking with Alfred. He purred at that. Alfred was on his side, keeping Bruce away from him and everything.

Maybe it would be okay. Just for a few days though, nothing crazy or anything.


	2. Barbara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As requested, the continuation......

Jason had been having an okay day for the most part. Sure, everything hurt like hell, and he was trapped in Wayne manor. But there were some good things, right? No one seemed to be arguing with him at all very much, and Roy was there almost constantly. The golden retriever hadn't shifted back into his human form the entire time Jason had been there. It had only been a day and a half though, and time seemed to slow down more and more. He'd much prefer to be in his and Roy's apartment.

Whatever. He'd take what he could get at this point. Sighing, he planted his face firmly in his partner's pelt, doing his best to ignore the world around him. Roy's scent surrounded him, and he sighed. Eventually, though, he felt the vibrations of a growl coming from his partner, and he looked up curiously before growling himself. The Bats had started approaching him yet again. He wished they would just ignore him, but no, there was a white tailed deer edging their way into the room Jason had claimed.

_Stupid Barbara._

He had expected that the other Bats would try to use this experience as an opportunity to get closer to Jason, but hell, he had hoped that they would mind their fucking business. It was wrong for him to wish for that, especially when the Bats did everything they could to get on his nerves. Barbara wasn't the worst person in the world though...at least it wasn't someone like Dick or, God forbid, _Bruce._ Just being in the same area as the man sent shivers up his already painful spine. 

Jason briefly wondered if the others had sent her in first as a sort of scout or something. They knew that she was one of the ones he had the least amount of beef with. Sure, they had had their problems in the past, but god damn it, she had a good taste in books. It was interesting that she came in her animal form though. Was she perhaps trying to be less threatening? Jason didn't appreciate it. He didn't need to be fucking coddled or whatever; he just wanted to go _home_.

Deer were normally seen as gentle, determined, and driven creatures. While Jason knew that Barbara could be downright vicious when need be, he had always found her presence to be comforting. It didn't cause the large spikes in anxiety that being around other members of the Bats did. Oftentimes, people tried to find hidden meanings behind which animal they were and would come to certain conclusions about their personality based off it. Jason didn't subscribe to any of those beliefs at all. People who were cats were generally said to be in a constant fight for balance between certain opposites, like between light and dark or action and inaction. He didn't see any of that in himself. He knew where he stood morally; if a fucker was evil, they would go down.

_But you haven't been killing as much lately. Maybe there is some sort of balance happening..._

Shut up. It's all horseshit.

Roy, however....Roy was very similar to what people thought dogs were. They were loyal, protective, and loved with all their heart, but that wasn't because Roy was a dog at all. It was just because Roy was Roy. There was no need to give something as uncontrollable as what animal form he had the credit for how good his heart was. He felt another growl rumble in his partner's chest as Barbara stepped closer.

Jason eyed her warily. He knew that Barbara wouldn't hurt him, but that wasn't what he was nervous about. Why was she here? What did she, and probably the other Bats, want from him? They almost never spent time with Jason outside of missions, but what could he do for them now? They had persuaded him into getting a shit ton of bones re-cracked (0/10, would not recommend) and basically trapped him in the manor. He couldn't go on missions right now, couldn't even transform into his human self, so what did they expect him to be able to do for them?

_Maybe they don't want anything from you. Maybe they're just trying to be here for you._

He snorted. Never in a million years would that happen.

Ignoring Roy, Barbara continued moving forward until she was right in front of the two. By now, his partner's fur had fluffed up, standing on end, and he was barely restraining his hackles from raising. Jason did not react similarly. Instead, he just stared up at the deer. She cocked her head to the side, staring back, before lowering herself down to the ground and presenting her head to him. He blinked for a moment. _Oh._ Standing on shaky limbs (much to the despair of his partner), he stumbled over to the deer and rubbed his cheek across her face. He wouldn't mind claiming her...just not the others.

Cats had many scent glands throughout their bodies, including on either side of their faces, around the mouth, and under their chins. Good. She was his for now. Not a threat in the slightest. The others would probably pick up his scent on her, but he didn't care. She was safe to be around him for now. He turned around and hobbled back to Roy, collapsing in the fluffy mess that was his partner. Roy seemed to have more of a grudging respect towards Barbara now; at the very least, he realized that Jason thought she was okay to be around. Roy was normally the only one who carried his scent, and Jason, his. Well, at least he used to. Jason had been covered with Alfred the cat's scent the moment the operation was done. For the last fucking time, _he was not a kitten._

Alfred probably knew that too.

Barbara stood back up, satisfied with herself, and trotted off soon after. Jason wasn't sure where she was going, but that didn't matter. He glanced up at the ceiling again, a habit he had made long ago to look out for family members of the winged sort. Bruce had chosen the alias Batman for a reason after all.

If he hadn't believed in the horseshit people cooked up about their animal forms correlating in some way to their personality at first, he definitely wouldn't have after meeting Bruce. According to the more avid followers of that crock of shit, people who had bat forms were all about communication due to their strong family bonds and sociable nature. Jason felt like laughing just thinking about it. No, that would not describe Bruce in the slightest. He would never use the word 'nurturing' to describe the man. Or bat, depending on the time of day.

He hadn't expected Barbara to come back so soon, but there she was. She was clearly happy with herself, all but prancing through the door with a bowl in her mouth. Jason narrowed his eyes, waiting until she set it down in front of him. He knew what it was; he had learned to decipher between millions of different scents on the streets and during his training with both Bruce and Talia. It was tuna, the good shit too. While on the street, he used to eat the canned stuff, but he had grown significantly more boujee under Bruce's (and Talia's) care. No more cheap shit for him.

_Aw, yeah, Barbara came through for us._

He must've been purring based off how happy the deer seemed with his reaction to the fish. Briefly, he noted that Barbara had also gotten a little something-something for Roy too, his favorite t-bone steak. Jason wondered how she knew that was his favorite, but he decided that he didn't want to know. She had her ways. Roy seemed to have warmed up to her presence more as well although that might just be because she brought him food. Roy loved food.

"Barbara? Deer-est? Where are you?"

Damn it, the only person he knew who made puns that were as shitty as that was Dick, someone he decidedly did not want to see at the moment. Thankfully, Barbara went out of the room before Dick came in. Jason glanced towards Roy, who was staring at the door as though he expected Dick to come bursting in at any time. He hoped that wouldn't be the case. Jason liked to be able to keep annoyances out of his life.

Jason nudged his bowl closer to Roy. He didn't want to be anywhere near the chaos that could occur should the door open to a more...unwelcome presence. Sinking into his thoughts, he all but face-planted into his tuna, his legs suddenly collapsing underneath of him, but he righted himself immediately, checking to see if anyone saw his unfortunate tumble. Roy had; of course he had. He had moved to just staring at Jason. He never needed to use words to prove his point. Yes, Jason's bones were in disarray, and yes, that meant he shouldn't be using them very much. But fuck that. He ain't about that life. Although, one time after Roy had been injured and similarly trapped in his animal form, he had had to be put in what they now called the 'cone of shame' since he wouldn't stop trying to chew his stitches....

He sat back down pretty quickly. Jason wasn't about to test fate right then and there anyway.

Was Damian a bat too? Or did he take after Talia? The holes in Jason's memory had filled in enough by now that he did remember babysitting the demon spawn while he was with the League, but he was still unsure of if he had ever seen the animal form. Perhaps not. Perhaps it was considered too private and would have put Damian in a dangerous position, or maybe Jason had seen it and just didn't remember it yet. Whatever.

He didn't like thinking about the gaps in his memory.

Sighing, he stared at the door, wondering when the next intruder would invade his space.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


End file.
